Religion and Society Years 1 - 2

This element of GNFL looks at the phenomenon of religion and society, as well as specific religions and societies, from a Christian theological perspective. This is not a secular sociological study of religion: it is an attempt to understand religion and society from the point of view of faith in God revealed in Jesus—it is part of religious education, which means it is done from a religious point of view. It therefore asks questions like: What does Jesus reveal about the nature of religion and society? What does faith in God as love mean in and for a world divided by social, religious, ideological and philosophical differences?

Part of the Christian, and more specifically Catholic, view of humanity (its “anthropology”) is that human beings are profoundly social beings. We need each other in order to exist and we need a shared method of holding together (which is what makes us religious, since that is what religion is there to do for us).

The word “religion” comes from the Latin re ligare, to bind up again, or to re-unify. Given that not all religions believe in God (as understood in classical theism), this “binding back” or “re-unifying” is not necessarily about connecting us with God, but with each other. It is about society.

Christianity both is and isn’t a religion; and this is true in different ways. According to some influential Christian thinkers, Christianity is more a revelation than a “religion”. In fact, it did not refer to itself as a religion for at least the first three hundred years of its existence. But it also is and is not a religion in the sense that it is not one homogenous phenomenon, “a” religion, since it is many, often incompatible religions (churches, communions and sects): Anglican, Baptist, Catholic, Evangelical, Fundamentalist, Methodist, Orthodox, Protestant, Quaker … and the list goes on.

The social role of religion in human violence is a hotly contested issue. Does religion cause violence, or does it overcome it? Is religion about peace and justice, or about power and privilege (or neither set of alternatives)? Would the world be better off if there were no religion? Is/was society better off where religion is/was banned? Can society function without religion?—for how long?

And how does Christianity respond to the growing cultural relativism of secular (post)modernity? Are all religions equally true/false, good/bad and/or admirable/deplorable?

In GNFL this understanding of the role that religion plays in society is developed in the following ways:

  • The Christian Revelation, building on the Hebrew Revelation (principally the Old Testament), uncovers the deep structures of human social and religious ways of being.
  • Social cohesion is one of humanity’s deepest needs; and social disintegration, one of our worst fears. The universal role of archaic/traditional religion was to manage social cohesion by managing social disintegration and its causes.
  • The unveiling of the violent foundations of society, and the role of religion in its maintenance, began with the Hebrew Revelation and came to a head in Christ, namely that society is built on violence, using violence to contain violence; and religion is the mechanism by which it achieves this end.
  • All religions have three things in common: ritual, myth and law. Each of these is to some extent a violent way of dealing with violence: ritual sacrifice of victims to angry gods; mythological stories that cover up human violence by projecting it onto the gods; using the threat of legal violence (law) against those who do things that cause violence (crime).
  • Religion is the ancient, indeed primal, means by which violence was managed, contained, channelled and “sacralised”.
  • The real cause of violence was and remains wanting what others have—envy, or what the Bible calls “coveting”.
  • At the heart of Christianity is the image of a crucified outlaw revealing the truth about God and about humanity: that there is no violence in God; that the human condition is riddled with violence; and that its roots are in distorted desire.
  • This creates a complex and often fraught relationship between Christianity and the world religions.
  • Christianity has a unique relationship with Judaism, ancient and modern. Ancient Judaism is absolutely vital to a proper understanding of Christianity, since both Jesus and the early Church were Jewish, and belonged to the now extinct form of Judaism known as “Temple Judaism” or “Second Temple Judaism”. Christianity is, in some ways, as much a descendant of Second Temple Judaism as is modern Judaism, or “Rabbinic Judaism”. Christianity’s relationship with modern Judaism is the most important interreligious relationship for Christianity.
  • Christianity also has an important relationship with Islam, or the various forms of Islam (many of which have complex and fraught relationships with each other). Historically the relationship was at least as strained and difficult as that with Judaism; and though the relationship is somewhat better, there is still much work to do (especially between Christians and Muslims in the Middle East).
  • Christianity has been undergoing a massive change in its attitude to and relationship with the other world religions, especially Hinduism and the other religions of Asia, as well as the indigenous religions of Africa, Australia and elsewhere.
  • There is a growing and widespread rise in anti-religious sentiment and policy throughout the (post)modern world; and Christianity is by far the most oppressed religious group in the world: it is oppressed by both other religions and the increasingly secularist ideologies, including in Australia, where religion is increasingly marginalised and excluded from the public forum, whether social, political, cultural, philosophical, or even spiritual or moral.

URL link to Theological Conversation chapter (PDF).

1 Corinthians 12:12  

Scripture Reference

Religion and Society: Reiligious traditions in australian society
  • Many factors help shape what people believe and how they live.
  • People who believe in and follow Jesus are called Christians.
  • Christians belong to many Churches.
  • The one Spirit of Jesus is active in all Christian Churches. 
Religion and Society

For Christians, Jesus Christ is the centre of their faith. (TCREK016)

LiteracyCritical and Creative ThinkingPersonal and Social CapabilityEthical Understanding

Students will explore how people develop beliefs and practices at the personal and communal level. They will be supported to develop awareness of a range of factors (including location, culture, family experiences) that influence outlook, beliefs and practices and to grow in respect for all. They will explore how Jesus was formed in his Jewish family, consider his call for others to follow him in helping him to change the world and engage with accounts of people responding to that call. Students will develop awareness of  the development of Christian Churches and identify some central Christian symbols and practices. They will investigate that the Our Father is a prayer shared by all Christian Churches. They will be supported to recognise the action of the Holy Spirit in Christian people.

Questioning and Theorising

TCREI004

Responding to questions about religious ideas, events or rituals and recording our thoughts and feelings (TCREI004)

LiteracyNumeracyEthical Understanding
  • developing questions about the Mass, its meaning, structure and symbols
  • at a class/parish Mass making a photo story of the parts of the Mass using information and communications technology (ICT), and sharing this with parishioners at a morning tea
  • brainstorming questions about how to pray, and inviting people from the parish to tell us how they pray
  • remembering that whenever we pray, Jesus is praying within us through his Holy Spirit uniting us with God the Father in love
  • researching the story of our parish church: using a photo time line, make a noticeboard display for the front office to tell the story of our parish
  • using the “Explain Everything” app or equivalent to devise a question for God and give an answer in images and text drawing on Scripture or church teaching
Interpreting Terms and Texts

TCREI005

Listening to and viewing stories from the Scriptures, and discussing characters (TCREI005)

LiteracyPersonal and Social CapabilityEthical UnderstandingWisdom Sustainability
  • gathering Scripture quotations around a series of themes and making a class mural, story maps or a class big book
  • using glossaries to learn the meaning of religious and theological terms
  • choosing verses from the Psalms that inspire thanksgiving prayers
  • exploring the first creation story (Genesis 1) as though it were a ritual (which it was!) and bringing out the symbolism in the numbers 3, 6 and 7 (first 3 days mirrored in the second 3 days; 6 days of creation; the 7th day, the Sabbath, as containing all time—past, present and future)
Communicating

TCREI006

Expressing personal responses and ideas in various ways (TCREI006)

NumeracyCritical and Creative ThinkingPersonal and Social Capability
  • creating Godly play dolls
  • sharing Godly play with other classes
  • creating artworks that reflect spiritual ideas or religious questions
  • ritualising biblical stories and noting how they are full of symbolism
See: Identifying and Reflecting

TCRED004

Cultivating a spirit of reflective silence and stillness, and naming important ideas or questions (TCRED004)

LiteracyNumeracyInformation and Communication Technology (ICT) CapabilityCritical and Creative ThinkingPersonal and Social Capability Sustainability
  • using an icon or cross, inviting written prayers for the world on sticky labels and placing them under the cross or icon (to include in class prayer)
  • asking hard questions and posting them on a “Mood Wall” in the classroom
  • writing reflective responses to lines of Scripture (e.g., “be still and know that I am God”, “Speak Lord, I am listening”, “Come, follow me”, “ ‘I have called you by your name, you are mine’, says the Lord”)
  • using Christian meditation to practise openness to God’s love
  • expressing gratitude following meditation, e.g., by singing songs of thanks and praise
  • learning to listen in silence and stillness to the presence of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, minds and bodies, leading us to discover God’s loving purpose for us
Judge: Evaluating and Integrating

TCRED005

Listening to and responding to others’ ideas and thoughts, and wondering and asking questions about ourselves and how we are connected to God and our world (TCRED005)

NumeracyCritical and Creative ThinkingPersonal and Social Capability Sustainability
  • examining individually and in small groups questions and thoughts about God
  • being open to the Holy Spirit by listening to each other share ideas, thoughts and feelings in circle time
  • singing songs that give thanks to God and acknowledging the connectedness of all things in his Holy Spirit
  • resting in silence, pondering how God loves us and wants us to know him embraced by his Holy Spirit
Act: Responding and Participating

TCRED006

Sharing some ideas and helping design plans of action that might lead to making loving choices towards improving specific situations at school or beyond (TCRED006)

NumeracyInformation and Communication Technology (ICT) CapabilityCritical and Creative ThinkingPersonal and Social CapabilityEthical Understanding Sustainability
  • sharing and discussing how classroom rules and attitudes encourage, protect and guide everyone for the good of all
  • constructing posters and signs to build a culture of gratitude in the classroom
  • pondering how to be more loving, generous, forgiving, joyful, patient by relaxing into the loving embrace of the Holy Spirit
  • creating affirmation paper bags / envelopes to affirm when others have made loving choices towards us as their response to God’s love for them
  • exploring ways that the mystery of God’s love, the life-giving presence of the Holy Spirit, is revealed through the community of faith in the Church (e.g., by exploring, using the web, Pope Francis’ humility and kindness)
  • creating a blessings meter or a gratitude box in the classroom to encourage kindness, positive attitudes and gratefulness
Achievement Standards

By the end of Year 2, students can identify God’s Holy Spirit as giver and sustainer of all life and recognise that his love for us is revealed in the Person of Jesus, the centre of faith for Christians. They can acknowledge that we experience God’s loving presence in prayer, in Scripture, in themselves and other people and in the world around us. They are aware that we are invited to grow in relationship with God and to care for ourselves, others and all of life. They can identify the Gospels as the Good News about Jesus, telling us about Jesus’ life and the people who believed in him. They can reflect on Jesus’ example in making loving choices that show care and respect for all life. They can describe the Church as a believing community that celebrates Jesus’ presence in the sacraments and witnesses to him by sharing his love. They can recognise the Sacrament of Baptism and identify its symbolic elements as the basis for the Christian life and as an invitation to live in friendship with Jesus.

Students can reflect on and respond to experiences of prayer, engagement with sacred texts and stories, their own experiences, people and the world around them and record observations, thoughts, feelings and ideas. In diverse ways they can express their emerging understanding of and engagement with religious events and rituals. They can practise stillness, reflect on their connection with God and their world and develop a response to apply at the personal level, within and beyond the school setting.

Threads:

Pre-unit assessment

Learning Hook

Surface

Deep

Transfer

Resources